Transposition

Transposing is a method of moving a progression or melody into a different key while maintaining the same structure. In this lesson I am going to show you two ways in which you can transpose a chord progression or melody into a different key. A background knowledge of chord construction, major and minor keys and intervals would be advantageous but I have tried to make it as easy to follow as possible so anyone who is interested can learn. This lesson we will be looking at diatonic progressions: diatonic means music involving only notes proper to the prevailing key without chromatic alteration. In other words, a progression in E will only have notes from E major in it.

Transposing Chords

The first step is to identify the key your progression is in. The order of chords in a major and minor key are below: if you don’t already know them make sure you memorise them. The minor key chords start from the 6th degree of the major scale, the seventh chords are in brackets:

1Maj (Maj7)
2Min (Min7)
3Min (Min7)
4Maj (Maj7)
5Maj (Dom7)
6Min (Min7)
7Dim(Min7♭5)

At the 2nd and 3rd degrees we have two minor chords and at the 4th and 5th in triad construction two major chords are found, so if you have a progression with two minor chords a tone apart, place them at the 2nd and 3rd degrees; the same applies with majors at the 4th and 5th. One of the easiest ways of establishing a key is to look at the 5th and 7th degrees, as the seventh chords found at that point aren’t found anywhere else. Dominant 7th’s are always at the 5th and Min7♭5 are always found at the 7th. So, in any diatonic progression wherever you see a Dominant 7 chord, place it at the 5th degree and work back to find the root note.

For Example:

B7 – Put B at the 5th in you major scale and count back, or go a perfect fifth back on your guitar.
D#Min7♭5 – Put D# at the 7th degree and move a semitone up.
1
2
T
E
F#

Applying either of those rules will get you the root note of E, as shown above. Then you can always double check by looking to see if all the rest of the chords in the progression belong to E as well.
3
T
S
G#
5
4
T
B
A
6
T
T
C#
7
1
S
D#
E

Chord Numbers

Now that you know how to work out the key it’s now time to transpose it into the new one. Let’s look at this progression below in the key of E. To recap, we know it’s in E because: B7 is the 5th of E, it both starts and ends with E Maj 7th’s (which is another good sign it’s in that key) and the rest of the chords can all be found in E major.

E Major Chord Progression
E Maj 7
The next step is to number each chord in relation to where they are in the major key. So that progression above can be seen as...
I maj7
Because E is the first chord (I), A is the fourth (IV), C# is the sixth (VI) etc.
Now all we have to do is choose our new key-let’s say A major-and work out the chords that are at those positions in the A Major Scale. So our progression now looks like:
A Maj 7
Make sure you keep the same chord quality when you transpose and make sure you use the correct enharmonic spelling when required.
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C# Min 7
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A Maj 7
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B7
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E Maj 7
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VI min7
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IV maj7
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V7
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I maj7
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F# Min 7
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D Maj 7
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E7
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A Maj 7

Intervals

Another way to transpose a progression is to use intervals. This method requires a good knowledge of intervals. Firstly you must establish the original key as above then decide what key you are moving to. After that figure out the interval between your original and new key then move all the chords up or down by that interval. For instance let’s take a look at our original E major progression again. This time we shall move it to G major. G is a minor third above E so all the chords in that original progression are to be moved up by a minor third.

E Major Chord Progression
E Maj 7
Transposed up by a minor third gets you:
G Maj 7
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C# Min 7
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A Maj 7
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B7
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E Maj 7
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E Min 7
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C Maj 7
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D7
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G Maj 7

Transposing Melodies

Exactly the same methods are used to transpose melodies as were used for chords. Establish the key and either use the numbers or interval method to move to the new key. If you are using standard music notation then you can find the key just by observing the key signature.
# sharpG Major/E MinorD Major/B MinorA major/F# MinorE Major/C# MinorB Major/G# Minor
12345
♭ flatF Major/D MinorB♭Major/G MinorE♭Major/C MinorA♭Major/F MinorD♭Major/B♭Minor
If there are no sharps or flats, it is in the key of C Major/A Minor
If there are 6 sharps then it is in F# Major/D# Minor. If there 6 flats it is in G♭Major/E♭Minor. Even though technically F# and G♭have the same notes the way there are notated and spelled is different.

Now to have a go yourself, below are a few progressions, work out the key and transpose them accordingly.

1: Determine the key then transpose to A major.
D Maj
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F# Min
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B Min
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E min
C#Dim |
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2: Determine the key then transpose up a major second.
B♭Maj 7
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G Min 7
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D Min 7
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A Min7♭5
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3: Determine the key then transpose to C# minor.
E min
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A min
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B min
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C Maj
B min |
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4: Determine the key then transpose up perfect fourth.
C Maj7
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F Maj 7
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D Min
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G Maj
G7
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